My next "Listen Story" meeting will be held at the Pray Eat Love Cafe (533 Manawai Street #304, Wai'anae side directly across from Kapolei High School) at 9am on Saturday, December 7th.
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your ohana! May this season bring you peace and happiness. Our hearts go out to the victims and all their ohana and friends who have been impacted by Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the Philippines on November 8th. You can send monetary donations to the American Red Cross at 4155 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, HI. 96816 and the Filipino Community Center at 94-428 Mokuola St. #302, Waipahu, HI 96797. Please let me know if I can ever help you or your family in any way. I can be reached at 586-6830 or sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov.
Mike
My next "Listen Story" meeting will be held at the Pray Eat Love Cafe (533 Manawai Street #304, Wai'anae side directly across from Kapolei High School) at 9am on Saturday, December 7th.
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The Hawaiian Homes Commission (HHC) held a special meeting on November 14th to consider extending the option to lease for Hawai'i DeBartolo LLC's Ka Makana Ali'i shopping mall. This project will be located at the corner of Kapolei Parkway and Kualaka'i Parkway on 67-acres of DHHL land and will be the 3rd largest mall on the island. I submitted testimony which in part said: "...during the last few months, I have received input from both businesses and community members who have concerns about DeBartolo's actions. While I do support this one-year extension, I will withhold my support of the final approval of the lease agreement until I'm assured that DeBartolo has made good on its promises to DHHL beneficiaries and the community. DeBartolo should make a renewed commitment to engaging the community and ensuring that pending issues, such as "community benefits", the Hawaiian Railway Society, and the Kualaka'i Parkway Extension, are all resolved in a fair and appropriate manner." The HHC voted to approve the extension by a 7-0 vote. DeBartolo is planning to begin construction on the mall in August 2014.
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I was happy to receive a letter from Governor Abercrombie on November 19th letting me know that he had released funding for the UH West O'ahu campus. Those projects are:
| • Road B - UH West O'ahu to Kualaka'i Parkway | $3.5 million |
| • Minor Repairs and Improvements | $41,000 |
On July 25th, Senate President Donna Kim sent all the Chairs of Senate Committees asking that we identify an interim committee work project. As the Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee (ENE), I chose to focus on the problem of invasive species. You might not know this, but in 2003 Act 85 was enacted which stated that the silent invasion of Hawai'i by insects, disease bearing organisms, snakes, weeds, and other pests is the single greatest threat to Hawai'i's economy and natural environment and to the health and lifestyle of Hawai'i's people. For example, a 2010 study by Shwiff et al. found that if brown tree snakes were introduced to Hawai'i, cost to the state in lost tourism, health costs, and damage to the power infrastructure could total $2.14 billion a year. During the last several months, I've participated in tours led by the managers of the island-based Invasive Species Committees on O'ahu, Big Island, Maui, and Moloka'i (I'm visiting Kaua'i on Dec. 12) to see up close the impact that invasive species are having on our environment. In addition to these site visits, I was also interviewed for TBN's "Joy In Our Town" television show on October 8th. During this 30-minute show, there was a 15-minute segment where I focused on the invasive species issue. The interview was shown 4 times on TBN and is posted on the network's Facebook page. On January 8th, Rep. Lee, Chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, and I will be co-hosting an informational briefing on invasive species from 10am to 12pm in Rm. 225 at the State Capitol. Additionally, I'm introducing a bill in 2014 to appropriate $5,000,000 in General Funds for invasive species prevention, control, outreach, research, and planning for Fiscal Year 2014-2015.
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